新快（Happy New Year）
by Vic.X
Summary: It is New Year's Eve (for the Chinese) and everyone is gathered at Allen(China)'s place for the reunion dinner. A short story about the East Asia families. Not a lot of sad stuff. There may be some new characters. I did try my best to rush it in before the Chinese New Year…but I'm apparently a couple days late…well, more than a couple…
1. Chapter 1

**新快（** **Happy New Year** **）**

 _ **I did try my best to rush this in before the Chinese New Year…but I'm apparently a couple days late…well, more than a couple…**_

 _ **Certain human names I gave to them:**_ _ **Tessa: Taiwan(fem),**_ _ **Gray: Japan,**_ _ **Allen: China,**_ _ **Korea/**_ _ **勇诛**_ _ **: South Korea,**_ _ **Jade: Hong Kong(fem),**_ _ **小澳：**_ _ **Macau (he prefers to be called so),**_ _ **朝（**_ _ **zhao**_ _ **）姐**_ _ **:**_ _ **North Korea(fem), William: Britain, Phil: The Philippines(fem), Davie: Maldives (twin brother of Phil don't ask why), Lynn: Vietnam(Fem)**_

 _ **Certain Families: East Asia: Tessa, Gray, Allen, Korea, Jade,**_ _ **小澳**_ _ **. The Sea Islands (twins): Phil, Maldives,**_

 _ **The Cps that are actually together: Phil &Korea, Germany&Italia, Vietnam&Canada, Hong-Kong&Macau**_

 _ **I renamed all of them with the help of a friend so if you find the names uncomfortable I do apologize for that. This is kind of an introduction to most of the Asian characters I have so far (they might come up in my future stories), so do pay attention if you're interested in reading more of my work. I will be working on new characters.**_

 _ **文中有中文出没（**_ _ **There may be some Chinese, but I'll translate all of them. Yep. English isn't my first language.**_ _ **）**_

 _ **Note: This is not a story centered on New Year's tradition so there will not be a lot of details on that subject. The story is also not related to any politics or true events.**_

 _ **Historical accuracy NOT guaranteed.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

 **Part One**

 _Noon. Two days before the start of the Spring Festival._ _A ship somewhere on the Pacific Ocean._

"Are you sure about this?" Phil (The Philippines) asked, handing over the telescope.

"Positive." Tessa(Taiwan) said, taking it and peering through at the same spot she'd been peering at every two days for the past four weeks.

"At least, I hope." She sighed.

Phil put a hand on her shoulder, this was the final day, and there was no backing out.

"Good luck." She said.

"Wait, you're not coming to the dinner?" Tessa glanced away from the telescope at Phil,

"No. It was nice of Allen to invite me, but I promised my brother I'd spend it with him." Phil replied, her voice got a little quiet,

"He…wants to spend as much time as he can…with, me." She said, looking away

"Well, good luck to you too, then." Tessa smiled, but her heart ached for the sister who'd soon lose her twin to the rising sea-levels of the Indian ocean.

 **Fact: All of the islands of the Maldives are extremely sensitive to rising ocean levels. Indeed, the country's highest point is only two meters above sea level. Human-induced global warming is causing glaciers and polar ice caps to melt, leading to a rise in ocean levels. If ocean levels continued rising at their current rate, the entire country could disappear under water in less than a hundred years.**

A hundred years' time. Is not that long for a country.

* * *

 _Morning. A day before the start of the Spring Festival. William(Britain)'s place._

William sat before the computer with a cup of his usual morning coffee and typed away busily on his keyboard.

He hadn't thought twice about the fact that tomorrow would be the first day of the Chinese New Year, and he didn't care much. New Year's Day for him had ended a month ago, spent with all the people he ever cared about, they'd gathered at his house and there had been a party, fireworks, celebrations, food…the usual. For him, it was already a new year, he was eager to put 2016 behind him.

But there was one person. A person he also cared about. A person whose new year hadn't started yet….

His doorbell rang loud and clear, as if he'd somehow summoned this person with his thoughts, he went to open the door.

"Happy New Year, William." Jade (Hong Kong) stood on his doorstep holding a wrapped present in her hands,

"Oh, um, hi." He tried and failed to hide the surprise in his expression,

"Didn't expect me to turn up, did you." She pushed the present into his hands,

"I thought you'd be spending today with your family." He said, opening the door a little wider to allow her in

"You are my family." She smiled and stepped inside. His heart rose at her words, a childish feeling he couldn't help but feel.

"I can only stay for a little while though, I've got to return and help Allen with tonight's dinner." She added,

"Oh, thought as much." He said, using the sound of the closing door to drown out the disappointment in his words.

"I'm making up for missing out on your New Year's Eve party." She walked inside and sat down on the living-room sofa as if she was more than familiar with this house, and William couldn't help but smile at the way she could make herself at home so easily, she'd always been like that, she rarely held grudges, she was comfortable with others so long as they were comfortable with her. Plus, she doesn't hate him. Not anymore.

…

"Well, that was a nice ten-minutes." She said as she left through the door and down the steps. _Yes it was beyond nice, it was nice to see you, it was nice to talk to you._ He thought.

He watched her leave in silence, until,

"新年快乐（Happy New Year）." He called in his best Cantonese, at which she turned in surprise. A gust of early morning wind caught the wispy strands of her short hair, she raised a hand to shoo them from her face, but ended up giving him a tiny wave instead,

"新年快乐 to you too…" She said.

His words swam in her head as she made her way back to Allen's place, grasping at every syllable of the first Cantonese words he'd ever spoken to her, playing them back again and again and again…

 _Perhaps it's true. Perhaps the new year really does bring changes._


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

 _4:00p.m. On the same day. At Erik(Germany)'s house_

They sat side by side on the sofa, leaning slightly into each-other, Leo(Italy) was doodling on his lap when a familiar figure outside the living-room window caught his eye,

"He's here, you were totally right." He gently prodded Erik's side,

"Alright, you owe me-" Erik raised an eyebrow in thought, but Leo interrupted,

"That bet was not serious, I don't owe you anything." He said, giving Erik a small shove,

"At least paint me a picture or something…" Erik reached over to ruffle Leo's hair. At that moment, there came a knock on the door.

They opened it to find Gray(Japan), standing with several gifts in his hand. He certainly seemed surprised to see the both.

"おはよう(morning), Germany-san, Italia-san, I've stopped by to wish you two an early/late Happy New Year." He gave a bow, and handed over the gifts.

"Thank you, wanna come inside?" Erik asked, taking them.

"Sure. But only for a moment."

…

"How did you two know I'd arrive?" Once inside, Gray asked them the question,

"Because you do this every year, well, you have done for the past couple years-two sets of presents, one given to us at our New Year's party, the other taken to us at 4:00pm in the afternoon a day before the Spring Festival, and you always bring mine around to my place first, so this year we thought we'd spare you the trouble of going to Leo's place. And now he owes me a painting because I placed a bet on your arrival." Erik explained, glancing down at his watch,

"4:00 sharp, you don't like to be late, do you."

…

"It was nice talking to you two. Hope you guys can enjoy the new year, じゃね(see ya)."

"Ciao ciao" Leo waved to him from the door,

Gray left, like he had done last year, and the year before.

"I won this bet, we're even." Leo turned and said to Erik,

"Yeah whatever, I was stupid to think he'd stay for dinner…" Erik muttered,

"He nearly did, once. I reckon something had been going on with him and Allen that time. He came, gave me the present, phoned you and told you to come over, and acted as if he was going to have dinner with us, as if there was another dinner he was trying hard not to think about… but in the end, he still left. It was 6:30. He glanced at the clock, stood, apologized, and left without another word…" Erik recalled,

"You and I both know he'll never stay, not for this dinner, not in a million years." Leo shut the door and returned to the sofa,

"I'll still paint for you, if you want."

* * *

 _Meanwhile. At Allen(China)'s place._

"Where is everybody? Don't they know I'm not good at doing this kind of stuff?" Tessa complained to no-one as she went over the plans for that night for the fourth time.

So far, she and Allen were the only people actually preparing for anything. He was currently at work in the kitchen, she on the events following up to the dinner, and小澳(Macau) was fiddling with a deck of card at a nearby table. The others were no-where to be seen.

"What do you mean you're not good at this? You're the one who organizes it all." 小澳 glanced up from his fan of cards,

"I know that, I just needed you to remind me so I can calm down." She replied, raising an eyebrow at him,

"Who are you even playing against, yourself?"

He smiled in reply and put his cards face down on the table,

"It is quite an interesting thing, to play oneself in a game of cards. Who is the actual winner? Is it me? Or is it…Me?" He said absentmindedly,

"孩子，你中毒了。。。（You're in way too deep…）" Tessa shook her head and returned to the matter in hand. After making sure he was back to his cards, she left her work on the table and took her phone from her pocket, flipping to a particular picture, she realized the real reason of her anxieties.

The gift… would it work? Would they like it?

Was it a childish thing to do?

After staring at the picture for what felt like an eternity, she forced herself to put it away.

Soon Jade returned with a gigantic array of fireworks, at 5:30 Gray arrived, and they set the tables and chairs out on the lawn, next to a small pavilion. The evening sky hung high above their heads, with the faded orange and purple lights of the west and the eastern sky already beginning to show stars. The air was cool and crisp with just a tiny hint of spring.

At 6:00 Lynn(Vietnam) arrived and everyone was ready to begin eating.

"Hang on." Allen was first to notice the problem as he placed the final dish upon the table and glanced around at everyone else seated around ,

"Where's Korea?"

"Maybe he's on his way." Tessa replied without looking up from her phone. Jade nodded in agreement from the middle of a round with 小澳。

"I certainly hope so." Allen turned to go back into the house, hiding his expression from the others.

They weren't very close, his family, and he couldn't deny that. They rarely got together for anything, sometimes they didn't even argue, sometimes it would be just plain awkward.

But every year, there's at least two dinners he can count on. Two dinners at which they'd all show up. During which they'd set aside their problems with each-other, and willingly let go of the grudges.

One on the night of the moon festival. Another is tonight's.

The reunion dinner.

He remembered one particular year some time ago, when Gray had arrived late and they'd waited for him. All of them trying their best not to look at his empty chair. It had been about, the ownership of an island, he recalled. They'd argued about it the day before. It had seemed like such a big deal… Soon, the rest had started the conversations. Talked as if no-one were missing. Tried not to think about it. However, none of them could hide their joy and relief when Gray finally showed up.

New Year's Eve, has a special ability. It washes away absolutely everything. A new year, is always a fresh start.

This time, it was Korea's turn to not show up.

Allen passed a hand over his forehead and returned to the table.

Same drill. Act as if no-one were missing.

Sigh.

...

Exactly five minutes into their conversations, Tessa suddenly looked up from her phone

"Oh God, I think I know where he is."


	3. Chapter 3

**Part Three**

 _Two hours earlier. A beach in Korea._

There was a sea of rhododendrons.

A violet sea. Mirroring the color of the sky. Swaying in the wind.

The real sea was a storm of waves. Crashing onto the sand one after the other.

His back on the flowers, he waded in. Where he stood, waist deep. The icy wind clawing at his face. He lifted a hand to calm the stray strands of hair.

Slowly, he turned to look back at the shore. His eyes reached longingly for something, someone. But no-one was there, only the waves and wind to keep him company. They called to him. Called him towards them.

He took another step into the water. He called for someone else.

"姐，不想来拉我回去吗？ （Dear sister, are you not coming to pull me back?）" 他的声音不大不小，好像'姐'就在他身旁。（His voice was just the right volume, as if 'dear sister' was standing next to him.）

There was no reply.

Another step.

He felt the ground give away from under him. His head hit the water.

He let the currents take him home.

.

Suddenly, there was a familiar voice, calling him name. A hand yanked him up. He raised his head in astonishment-

* * *

 _Allen's place. Three hours later._

"I remembered hearing about this somewhere." Tessa explained to the people around the table,

"We all know about his sister, North Korea, right? The two of them were close, once. Very close. She raised him, after all." She glanced at Allen as she said this,

The others nodded.

"I remembered reading about a conversation that happened between them…

 _The story:_

 _It had been, if I recall correctly, exactly a thousand years from today. During their Goryeo Dynasty. They'd only just ended the war with The Khitan Empire, and times were peaceful again. But on New Year's Eve that year, she told him that she'd had a vision._

 _'勇诛, there is something I need you to know.'_

 _He nodded, he knew his sister was being serious._

 _'I have a feeling there's going to be a war.' She said, slowly,_

 _'Don't worry, we'll be ready if the Khitans attack again.' He told her,_

 _'No. It's not them.' She covered her face, an action she rarely displayed in front of him,_

 _'It's us.'_

 _'Us?' He was growing worried; her words didn't make sense._

 _She closed her eyes. And spoke, in a low focused voice, as if reciting the lines of a poem or chant._

 _'There's going to be a war and we are going to fight with weapons we've never heard of, alongside people we hardly know about. The war will be against each-other. But it won't be ours to win.'_

 _By now he was seriously worried, he wanted to interrupt, to ask what she meant, but she wasn't done,_

 _'We will fight. And we will no longer be able to recognize each-other. We will no longer be able to recognize ourselves. After the war is won. One of us will be shut away from the world for good.'_

 _She opened her eyes._

 _Seeing his expression, she held up a hand to quiet him, and said,_

 _'Dear me, I should never have told you this…It is New Year's Eve, we don't need to worry about things that haven't happened yet, do we? Just give me some time. A thousand years. Yes, give me a thousand years precisely and I promise I will come back to see you.'_

 _He was not reassured,_

 _'What do you mean come back? You're right here. And what was that war about?'_

 _'You don't understand, I can't tell you-' She shook her head, pulled him closer, and looked straight into his eyes._

 _'Just listen to me, I know you're confused, I only need you to remember what I say, and you can stop think about it afterwards, alright?'_

 _He nodded. He trusted her, though he still doubted whether she herself was alright. He knew the accuracy of her visions._

 _'A thousand years will pass before I can see you again. But no matter what happens in those years, no matter how much change takes place, and even if we're the worst of enemies, I will come back to see you on New Year's Eve. I promise.'_

 _He nodded._

 _'Where?' he asked_

 _'Our beach.' She said._

There was silence as Tessa finished talking.

"She meant the Cold War, didn't she?" Lynn looked deep in thought,

"Never knew dear 朝姐(North Korea)was a seer." She said,

"Her predictions are highly accurate?" Jade asked,

"Yes. History has already proven that." Gray said, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"But she can't see him tonight, she won't be able to, her government isn't letting her out." 小澳 had begun tiding up the cards on the table,

"She's shut away from the world, just like she predicted…" Allen said quietly, there was another moment of silence.

"So Korea's at the beach right?"

"Yep. Waiting."

* * *

[Author's note: This is from Wikipedia, so I'm not sure if the history is entirely accurate.]


	4. Chapter 4

**Part Four**

 _Three hours earlier. The beach._

"Korea, what are you doing?"

He lifted his head to see a water-logged Phil trying her best to yank him back to shore.

He let her. He leaned into her just a little. The dunk had sobered him up.

"How much did you drink?" She was quite mad.

"Not…not a lot…" He lied,

"You're lying." She said, and continued talking as they trudged up the beach,

"Just now I went over to your house to wish you an early Happy New Year and found the door open, I went in, saw all these bottles on the floor, and came over here immediately."

"Yeah, thanks." He said as they collapsed side by side onto the sand.

"You're lucky I knew where to find you." She shrugged, calm again.

Silently, they listened to the sound of the waves. He shivered a little and she wrapped her arms around him.

"So, she didn't turn up." Phil said, barely loud enough for him to catch.

"No." He laid back, pulling her down.

They stared up at the slowly darkening sky, not think of anything in particular. Just. Staring.

New Year's Eve does that to you. Makes you want to stop thinking.

 _She promised. Promised she'd come. She didn't come on Jan.1_ _st_ _. Then that means it's tonight._

The color of the sky was so beautiful.

.

After what seemed like an eternity, Phil spoke,

"She'll come back. She promised."

"I don't know…I don't think I can handle it anymore…" He shut his eyes,

"Cheer up, I'm sure she'll come." Phil propped herself up on one elbow and stroked his hair.

"Well, I'd better get going. Davie's also waiting for his sister." She stood and held out a hand. He looked at the hand for a moment, as if debating whether to take it.

"And as for you, there's an entire table full of people waiting for you." She added. Finally convinced, he reached out and hoisted himself up.

"Go. They'll help." She smiled,

"Alright, thanks for everything."

They shared a short kiss and then she was gone.

Once she was out of sight he immediately regretted not having wished her luck with her brother.

 _It's fine. Phil will be fine._ He told himself.

...

It was already quite late by the looks of it, but he did not go to Allen's.

Instead, he returned home, and sat for a while at his desk, flipping through some old photographs. He needed to see her face, as if seeing her face somehow meant that she was sure to show up.

He picked out a photo of the two of them and pocketed it. For luck.

Then he went to Allen's.

* * *

[Author: This part was a bit short. I had to squeeze the next few parts together.]


	5. Chapter 5

**Part Five**

 _6:10 Allen's_

There was a ring on the bell.

"Finally." Allen did not bother to hide his smile.

He half ran towards the door. Unable to help themselves, the others followed. They welcomed Korea inside and the happy crowd returned to the table.

As the darkness closed around them the atmosphere was starting to feel festive.

Someone had strung a ring of red lanterns around the entire courtyard, and only now was their light showing, their glows dim but warm, casting a unique atmosphere over the family.

 _Maybe not a perfect family. Maybe far from a perfect family. But no-one cared about that. Not tonight._

"Wait, firecrackers first!" Jade brought out a gigantic string of firecrackers and handed them around, Tessa raised her phone and hit record.

"Oh boy…" 小澳 covered his ears as everyone lit their fire crackers at the same time and a deafening series of bangs rang through the night. Jade grabbed his arm with her free hand and yanked them away.

The smoke cleared and there were cheers all around.

"Always a pleasure, never a chore." 小澳 shook his head at Jade but he was smiling.

"Feeling the pollution yet?" Gray laughed and Allen gave him a small shove.

"Alright, let's eat!"

They settled down and began to dig in. The dinner was delicious, as usual.

The sound of chopsticks and clinking glasses mixed in with the scattered conversation.

Soon, the chirping of some nearby crickets reached their ears and the night wind had begun to pick up.

The moon rose steadily above their heads, casting its own light down from the heavens.

 _Maybe there isn't utopia. Maybe there will never be utopia. But in that evening, at that dinner table, there was._

It was a short utopia. It would certainly end soon. It was even surreal in some way…

But no-one cared.

Later, talk had broken down into groups of twos and threes.

The special administrative regions were in a rather heated debate, as were Allen and Gray, everyone had assured Korea at least once that his sister was indeed going to arrive, and the two girls were busy on their phones.

"Were you close with my sister?" Korea asked Allen from across the table.

"Certainly. Though not as close as I was with Gray." Allen replied, taking a sip of wine.

"I suspect no-one was." Gray said half-jokingly,

"哈哈，真相了！（Damn right!）" Tessa said without looking up from the phone.

"So, err, what was she like to you?" Korea continued,

"Well, she was strong-willed, kind-hearted, and quite clever. She rarely complained or spoke her thoughts but she always knew exactly what was going on."

"Like Lynn." 小澳 said, at which Lynn smiled and shook her head,

"Not like me?" Jade said in feigned surprise,

"You're not smart enough." 小澳replied calmly,

"I am too!" Jade crossed her arms,

"Then beat me in a game of cards." He took out his deck.

"好， 我从-心[song]，行了吧？我从-心。。。(Nope…just no.)" she waved her hand in front of him

He was about to put the deck back with a smug smile when she plucked it from his hand and said,

"Yeah, I lied, I am SO playing you."

…

On the other side of the table, the conversation about Korea's sister was coming to an end as three got more and more drunk,

"Was she pretty?" Korea asked,

"Sure she was. You've seen her." Gray was checking his own pulse with a worried expression,

"I should probably clear the table." Allen said, stood, and cleared the table of empty dishes. They'd eaten everything, as usual.

Tessa rose to help Allen in the kitchen, and that left Lynn alone on her phone, texting someone at the other side of the globe.

[Author's note: Lynn and Mathew(Canada) are together because of their character, and not any actual history events. How it happened: He helped her find herself again after the Vietnam wars.]

 _Matthew: By the way, The Spring Festival's a legal festival here now._

 _Lynn: Really? When did that happen?_

 _Matthew: June. Never got around to telling you._

 _Lynn: So, who are you celebrating it with?_

 _Matthew: I'm kind of the only one over here…_

 _Lynn: You can still invite the others and hold a small party._

 _Matthew: Nah, not feeling like it, I'll celebrate with you. Over the phone._

 _Lynn: Alright._

 _Matthew: Yeah, it's kind of lonely over here, my brother's been working all day long, preparing for the protests, you know how it is._

 _Lynn: At least cook yourself something good._

 _Matthew: I have._

 _Lynn: I have always trusted your cooking._

 _Matthew: Lol_

 _Lynn: Oh wait, Allen's giving a speech of some sort, I'll get back to you._

"Everyone? May I have your ears? This won't take long." Allen raised his half empty glass, and the rest raised their heads to look in his direction,

"Thank you. Now, I'm sure all of us are going to miss this feeling tomorrow, or even, tonight, right after we part," He began, and they couldn't help but notice that this wasn't his normal end of year speech.

"because, we Asian countries have a problem. We are not a group, we are scattered. We hold grudges with each-other, and these keep us from wanting to have dinners this one more than twice a year. But when we are alone. When we are 'sane', or perhaps, 'crazy', we long for something like this to happen more often. This, is our problem. Along with many others, like, not feeling regret until it's too late, not knowing how much you really care about a certain person, until it's too late, not standing up for someone, being a coward, at times, being an idiot, at other times, and above all, not even trying to fix any of our mistakes…"

They stared at him in silent surprise. (每个人的内心都无比复杂)

"…However, (Jade: Yep, knew he wasn't drunk.) I don't care about any of your mistakes. Because I love you all no matter what. Happy New Year!" he finished and there was a huge round of applause,

"I really should have filmed that, you should have seen your faces!" Tessa said, laughing.

"Nice one. Happy New year folks!" Gray said, they clinked glasses one last time.

...

Back in the living-room the gifts were exchanged,

"So, whose staying until midnight?" Allen asked,

"There's fireworks at midnight." Jade casually added,

"Oh yeah, I haven't taken you to see my present yet!" Tessa suddenly remembered something,

"There have been some slight changes to the plan, and we're not spending midnight at Allen's. I've borrowed a small boat from Phil, we're going for a night tour of the pacific."

Everyone looked at her, she avoided their gaze and glanced down at her watch.

"It's only 9:00, we'll make it."

"Might I ask what for?" Allen was rather confused,

"Your present." Tessa gave a mysterious smile.

* * *

[Author: yep, we're finally up to this part. I bet most of you have already guessed what the present is.]


	6. Chapter 6

**Part Six**

 _11:00p.m. A boat somewhere on the Pacific_

She was just a little worried about where they were headed, but truth was she'd run this route with Phil a least twenty times already. So, she began to feel worried about the rationality of her plan instead.

The gift. The one she'd spent four months on.

It could either make this night, or ruin it.

There were only five people on the boat now. Korea had left for the beach once more, and Lynn had gone to join Matthew.

Beneath their boat the dark waters of the Pacific did nothing to reassure her. She could hear their splashing. Her steering hand was beginning to sweat.

Behind her, she could also hear the voices of her brothers, they were obviously discussing her gift.

She heard someone say something about a giant whale, and gave a rather nervous laugh.

A hand touched her shoulder and she jumped.

"You alright?" It was Jade.

"Yeah. Um, we'll be there soon."

"The suspense is unbearable, at least tell me what the present is." Lowering her voice, Jade cut straight to the chase,

"You haven't guessed?" Tessa couldn't help smiling as Jade's eyes widened a little,

"No way, seriously? You got them an Island?" she gasped,

"Knew you'd get. Yep. That's right. Now don't say another word or I'll start regretting this." Tessa clenched the rudder a little harder as if to steady herself.

"Wow. Just, wow." Jade muttered.

...

It came into view little by little, and Allen admitted that it did indeed look like some sort of whale. A dark form half afloat in the ocean, motionless.

Gray was the first to get his head around it,

"You got us an Island?" His voice was steady, but the surprise was all over his face,

Tessa was all smiles by this point. She steered their boat gently towards the 'gift', gradually beginning to circle it.

The passengers seemed at a loss for words.

"That is…awesome." Allen moved forwards to stand next to Gray at the front of the boat.

"Awesome, huh, now that is the first time I've heard you two describe an Island with words other than 'rich in resources', 'at an important geographical location' or 'mine'." Tessa looked at her brothers on either side, both of which were avoiding her gaze,

"Well you can forget about all of that, because this one, is for you to share. With each-other." She finished,

They both nodded in silent agreement, and she let out a tiny sigh of relief.

"You can use it for, well, anything you want, you can build stuff on it or leave it as it is. The reason I went through all this trouble of finding the perfect Island is because I want it to serve as a reminder. Not a big reminder, just something that'll come back to you if territorial disputes resurface in the coming year, and tells you to think twice about things. The proof is sitting right in the middle of the pacific. No-one said you can't share an Island."

She took their hands. She needed to say no more. Behind them, Jade and 小澳 had also come to get a better look at the island.

And there they stood, the family of five. Over the water. Under the stars of a soon-to-be-new year.

The moment was as perfect and translucent as the dark sky above.

She turned, and saw that the moon had caught up to them. It's glow illuminating parts of the water, creating a golden ladder leading right towards the edge of the earth.

There remained one question.

"What shall we name it?" Gray addressed Allen, a smile playing across his lips,

"Something simple." Allen replied,

"叫极东岛吧。（How about, the East Island.）" Gray asked,

"Not bad. Not bad at all…"

...

A while later, the three left and the two were alone. After making sure no-one was watching, they laid down side by side on the deck. The waves rocking them gently from side to side.

"I've always wanted to count the stars again, with you, never thought it'd be like this."

"Nope."

"This feels nice."

"I know. She's a smart kid."

"Oh no, not a kid."

"Well, compared to us she is. We might have young blood, but we're old souls now. Both of us."

"Nice one, old souls eh? Old souls…"

He turned his head slightly, and their eyes met.

A whisper was passed between the two.

"But we were young together, once."

"Sort of…sort of."

"You know? Before you guys came along, I was quite a different person."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I did what I had to to survive, and sometimes more."

"Gosh, I never knew you've had…"

"Everyone's had…yeah. But I wasn't your typical 'naughty kid'. I didn't do what I was told…because…because there was no-one around to tell me what to do, or what not to do, or anything… I don't know, it was kinda lonely."

"It was. Wasn't it?"

"…"

Their voices got quieter and quieter, until one of them dozed off, and the other pulled him slightly closer, and stared at the sky in silence.

...

When Jade came outside to check on them ten minutes before 0:00, she found them both asleep with their heads together.

Under the silver moon-light, their hair was the exact same shade of black.

* * *

[Author: Oh God I can't even... alright... Happy New Year folks! (Don't worry, it's not the end yet)]


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